Playak News Flash 2011-02-19

Playak News Flash - February 19, 2011
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines

A New Week a New Adventure New River Academy - A new week a new adventure. Yes that is right I said the title twice. Have a problem with then call me up. Well any-who that is enough of that. Uganda is still shooting wristers at me (hockey reference) and knocking me down all day long. After packing up from the unforgettable Hairy Lemon island I became sad but knew that we were to return there again in the next few weeks. Yesterday we arrived at our new destination of Eden Rock, which is a small campground with grass and tree, also power and internet for all the techno geeks at our school.The grass is a great change of scenery from all the dirt and is super nice to camp on. I have set up a little neighborhood of tents with a tarp covered over patio area. The meals are different and include meat. Real meat, something that isn't to common here in Uganda.

Great Denver Post Article on Brad Ludden! First Descents - We've all heard the sayings: Be the change you want to see in the world. Get involved. It takes a village. But with busy lives and pinched budgets, not to mention trying to figure out where to begin, turning charitable thoughts to action can seem daunting if not downright unfeasible.

Live Better Stories: Patagonia Paradise Teva Blog - After spending a couple of weeks in Pucon living `la vida loca` it was time for us to leave this crazy town and head down south. Driving countless kilometers over dusty dirty roads we finally made it to Barilotche to meet up with Ron, Severin and Simon. From here we continued to drive to the Futaleufu where we nearly spend a week. According to the Whitewater Chile Guidebook this Valley is the best Kayak destination in the world.

Write-Up: New River Gorge (CA) A Wet State (CA) - I first remember hearing about the Lower New as I drove to the Upper New back in 2004, unready for the mini-epic that awaited me downstream. I remember hearing stories of unportagable and runnable rapids. The seriousness of the run was only reinforced in my mind when Paul recounted his epic a year or two later.

Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race 2011 - Day 1: Kayak with the storm Freecaster - Strong winds also caused havoc in the second stage, a 47 kilometre kayaking leg down the Grey and Serrano rivers to the base of the massive Monte Balmaceda. Race organizers, Nomadas Outdoor Services were forced to delay the start of this section as a result of the high winds. In addition to making the conditions particularly challenging physically, the wind has also caused some equipment problems, including gear problems and a kayak rudder failure.

Boat Review: Prijon Pure Fraser Valley WW - With the new Small and X-Lrg sizes of Prijon's Pure finally hitting North America I figured it was time to get that boat review over with that I've been meaning to do for a while. This review will be done based off of the medium size Pure that came out last year. The Pure is Prijon's latest creek boat and has a more modern look to it than the traditional Prijon whitewater kayaks. The Pure is made out of Prijon's, legendary HTP blow molded plastic. The blow molded plastic is unquestionably the strongest material being used to build whitewater boats today.

Off the grill back into the water: Lachine PaddleBlogs - It is rarely possible to get good quality images at Lachine. You are several hundred meters from shore and the only place to stand is a tiny, little rock island in the middle of the river with water continuing to flow over it. In addition, you pretty much have to be a paddler to get there and so not just any photographer can come along and take pictures. However, on two occasions this past summer there were dedicated people taking pictures and sent them to me afterwards.

Road Trippin' in NZ Team Pyranha - We started the trip off flying into the North Island, where we sampled the delights of classic runs such as the Kaituna and Wairoa.

The fish jump off the grill back into the water: Habitat 67, Montreal PaddleBlogs - Special thanks to all those who helped make my first short video possible (Charly Feldman, Matt Stern, Alistair, Aynsley, and friends). It was filmed back at the very beginning of the 2010 paddling season. Habitat is 10 minutes away from school. It has consistent flows and serves as a perfect training ground to learn all the sweet tricks that can be done on a wave.

From Here to There: 19 Miles on the Versa Board Team LiquidLogic - Just last weekend Woody and his lady Kim (Woody is also Kim's man) had come over to visit and cook out on my brand new grill (it's bad ass). Over a good evening of chatting and hanging out with our significant others, Woody said that he had the idea to stand up paddle 20 miles on the French Broad river on the Versa Board the next day. Betsy (my lady) said that I had to go because she had a pile of grading several megabytes deep to do and she wanted me out of the house.

Cahyana and Tung Tung Gunung duemmstuff - As promised, I'm posting some kayaking pictures from the past few days. Most pictures were made by Puji Haryanto and Tirtaseta crew: I was taking care of a video camera :)

Last Dance? Sea-Boo-Photos - November 20th. 27 degrees. Vermilion River at a pleasant play level and still open. Today was my first day off work in two weeks. Oh Lord did I want to play!

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